WHITE THORN 



WHITE THORN. SCARLET HAW. SCARLET 

 FRUITED THORN 



C>'i7^u^^t(s f'l'iCi'iu'a. 



A low tree fifteen to twenty feet high with short stout trunk, 

 crooked spreading branches forming a broad flat head ; common 

 throughout the northern states. Roots filjrous. Found either in 

 thickets or sohtary, m upland woods, in rocky pastures or near the 

 borders of streams. 



Bark. — Light brown, or ashy gray, slightly fissured surface broken 

 into small scales. Branchlets at first light green, lustrous, later red- 

 dish or light brown or light gray, fiually become armed with slender 

 straight or slightly cur\ed, brown, shining, persistent spines one or 

 two inches long. 



Wood. — Ih'own, tinged with red ; heavy, hard and close-grained. 

 Sp. gr., 0.S61S ; weight of cu. ft , 53.71 lbs. 



Winter Buds. — Globular, tiny, chestnut brown. Inner scales grow 

 with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before they fall. 



LeaTiS. — Alternate, simple, broad-oxate. one to five inches long, 

 wedge-shaped, rounded or truncate at base, acutely cut or slightly 

 five to nine-lobed, sharply and finely serrate, acute. Feather-\eined, 

 midrib prominent, primary veins strongest toward the base. They 

 come out of the bud, conduplicate, green ; when full grown the)' are 

 thin, smooth, shining, bright green above, paler green beneath. 

 They turn bright yello"' in autumn. Petioles long, slender, grooved, 

 smooth or hairy. Stipules are leaf-like, serrate, acute, early decid- 

 uous. 



Flowers. — May, when leaves arc nearly grown. Perfect, white, 

 borne in few-flowered corymbs, on slender pedicels ; vary in size 

 from one-half inch to one inch in diameter \\\ih strong and disagree- 

 able odor. 



Calv-i'. — Urn-shaped, five-Iobed ; lobes much shorter than the 

 petals, finally rcflexed, imbricate in bud. 



Petals. — Five, inserted on the calj-x tube, white, obovate, erose, 

 imbricate in bud. 



Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the pclals ; fifiments thread-like ; 

 anthers purple, introrse, tuo-celled ; crils 0|)ening longitudinally. 



Pistil. — Ovary of two to fn'C carpels, inserted in 'he bottom of the 

 calyx tube and united with it ; st\les two to five ; stigmas capitate ; 

 ovules two. 



Fruit. — Drupe-like pome with bony siones, boiaie in umbels of two 

 or three ; bright scarlet, crowned with the cnl\\ lubes ; globular or 

 slightly elongated, one-third to one-half an inch in diameter. Sep- 

 tember or October ; remains all winter, somewhat edible. 



143 



